My name is Sammy and I have concluded my 3rd and final year studying a Bachelors degree Mathematics and Computer Science with a semester in Bergen, Norway. Bergen is a wonderful, cultured city, surrounded by the seven mountains, and granted me six months of experiences I will never forget for the rest of my life. I studied a couple modules at the University of Bergen while finishing my Mathematics Project on the advanced encryption scheme.
I arrived in the midst of a snowy season in early January, where the picturesque landscape looked straight out of a Disney film. Before my studies started I got to enjoy the scenery, have fun in the snow and meet new friends from all around the world. We went sledding down the mountain slopes, ate some local food, and settled ourselves in before the end of the month.
I had a relatively calm schedule, where I would go in to the university most days a week for a couple hours, for one or two lectures. I studied a Norwegian language intro level course, which was important as I wanted basic conversational skills while I lived in Bergen. I had prepared in advance with Duolingo, which slightly helps but the course itself taught me a lot. I also studied one mathematics course in computational science, which was incredibly difficult, and one informatics course in visualisation. These courses helped balance out my main focus for the semester, my project. I would attempt to make slow progress on the project by chipping away, week by week, which meant I wasn’t in much of a panic towards the deadline, and gave me time to focus on exams when they were coming up.
The transport in Bergen was also very convenient, as Bergen is quite a small city (coming from someone who grew up in London and New York) and allows for easy access to the city centre from my accommodation and to the airport for travelling within the EU, which was very easy once I was in Norway due to the Schengen freedom of movement area.
My favourite thing by far was the mountains. My accommodation was located a 20-minute walk from Ulriken, one of Bergens seven mountains. If I fancied, within half an hour of waking up I could be from my bed to the top of a mountain via a cable car. The hikes were also enjoyable yet difficult, but the view was amazing. Bergen is easily one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to.
For any students thinking about travelling to Bergen, I would highly recommend it! Bergen is beautiful, inclusive and a very unique experience. I wanted to make sure I went somewhere different to where I know, and got out of my comfort zone, and Bergen absolutely does this. For Bergen specifically make sure you have a decent grasp of the language of the country you are planning to go to or at least know how much English people generally speak. Also, use the Skyss student tickets for public transport as it is also useful for going on the boats and trams. Consider getting a pass for the cable cars as they pay for themselves quickly if you plan on going more than once.
Thank you for reading!
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